Robot Boats Take on Drug War in Navy Experiment Off Key West

Fleet Experimentation 2026 runs through April 30, pairing artificial intelligence, unmanned vessels and traditional Navy platforms in a test of how autonomous systems could patrol vast waters.

KEY WEST, Fla. — The boat left the Key West waterfront without a sailor at the helm.

A Tsunami unmanned surface vehicle went underway Sunday during Fleet Experimentation 2026, a weeklong Navy exercise off Key West that is testing how robotic vessels, artificial intelligence and traditional manned platforms can work together against drug trafficking netwo…